Bruce Still Looking For Quality

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Manager Steve Bruce has said he's still on the hunt for quality and experience this summer despite Aston Villa clearly needing to move players on.


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If we bought Messi, Ronaldo, Neymar and Bale I doubt Steve Bruce and Colin Calderwood would know what to do with them or what system they would play them in. it was mainly down to the individual quality of Kodjia's goals rather than a working system why we finished 13th last season but quality players still have to have a system and understanding to work in and I've yet to see that under our coaching staff.

Steve Bruce always seems to be looking for that get out of jail card and appears unable to get a system and style of play to suit the players he already has and while we do have some dross, we also have some decent players who under the right management should get us promoted.

I was going to keep quiet ( and I know a couple of posters who would like that!) until the first ten league games, however, I'm sorry to say I will be surprised if the Bruce, Calderwood & Clemence combination suddenly clicks when they have already proved pretty clueless over the last 9 months.......Just my own opinion of course and I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
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How many more players does he want to sign?

We've got a back 4 that includes John Terry and current internationals in Chester and Taylor, a midfield that includes Hourihane and Lansbury, who have been 2 of the top championship midfielders, and a strike force worth over 30 million quid that have all been goalscorers in this league. Then you have the likes of Jedinak, Grealish, Adomah etc who should all easily be good enough for this league.

He can have no excuses this coming season. This is a league full of poor teams. Newcastle and Brighton got over 90 points and scored over 70 goals each last season, we should be looking at the same.

He needs to stop giving other teams so much respect and instead of sitting back and worrying about what they will do, take the game to them and make them worry. Aside from Brighton (twice) last season, i cant think of too many games where we outplayed the opposition.

 
I thought we bought a load of quality in January. Time for these players to live up to the promise.
 
Got to agree with Fulford and Thomas Holte and andym31 .... Bruce and his crew just haven't done it have they. Will they ..... the clock is ticking.
 
ironside - 15/7/2017 23:46

I thought we bought a load of quality in January. Time for these players to live up to the promise.

Yeah but they seem to be a bunch of complete individuals and that is down to the manager
 
I think Lansbury has been the best of the central midfield purchases.
Houri hand has been a more mobile version of Westwood.
In fact, his free-kicks and corners have been carbon copies of Westwood's efforts, corners rarely beating the first defender and when they do, its a floater, no zip to it. His free-kicks have been equally dire, especially from someone who made his reputation taking free-kicks and corners..
 
1958Villan - 16/7/2017 03:04

I think Lansbury has been the best of the central midfield purchases.
Houri hand has been a more mobile version of Westwood.
In fact, his free-kicks and corners have been carbon copies of Westwood's efforts, corners rarely beating the first defender and when they do, its a floater, no zip to it. His free-kicks have been equally dire, especially from someone who made his reputation taking free-kicks and corners..

And yet Hourihane as poor as he was managed 3 assists and 1 goal in his 13 games. He certainly hasnt done enough but its a huge stretch to write him off as Westwood plus 10% this early.

 
The couple of pre-season matches so far prove that quality is something we do not have, where is our player to make a brilliant pass or drag the game back to us by the scruff of the neck...

People don't want Crouch, people don't want Barry I would take both of those tomorrow as they have something we lack.... Kodja feeding off Crouch's head or getting balls through the midfield from Barry.....

 
And what both of those players have col8, is the experience and ability to think, adapt to the situation and not need the wisdom of our below par coaches/manager to tell the what to do in a match. However, a team with Barry, Terrt, Crouch and Jedinak wouldn't be very mobile.
 
Is Bruce a poor manager, he has taken clubs out of this league in the past....

Are we such a shit club that we've sunken so low that expecting us to come up in one full season of management from anyone is a tall order.

 
He's picked his back room staff, so has the coaching team he's assembled to target promotion. He inherited probably the most expensively assembled squad in the second tier, then added 7 or so of f his own players in the January window. He's picked up possibly the best defender the PL has ever known and a GK that after a wobbly start managed better than 1 in 2 clean sheets. He's got a wealth of emerging talent at the club, an owner ready to back him and a fan base second to none in that division.
I don't think it is a tall order to expect promotion. Yes he's achieved ro motions in the past, but I've never got the impression at any of the clubs he's managed that he's ever done a great job. At the STY where we would have seen him at close hand the most, after a promising couple of seasons he took them down if I recall, and some of his decisions were plain baffling.
 
I believe Bruce is right, we need 3 more of premier quality to make a go of it this year. You could argue the ones he bought last year kept us up because at one time the other direction looked entirely possible. Hi biggest problem is offloading. I'd celebrate a sale as much as a buy I think!
 
Sorry Wicked Messenger I'm with upthevilla and everyone else who thinks we should have enough already to mount a challenge; for all the reasons in upthevilla's last post.

All managers now seem to play the game of tying the clubs chances of promotion/avoiding relegation to how many purchases are made and how much is paid for them in the recent transfer windows. Or whether they have their own backroom staff. This ignores or undervalues the existing players and the academy and young players coming through.

None of these excuses apply to Bruce now. We are reasonable to expect a playoff place at least, in my view. I want to see value being added due to the coaching staff; I want to see players getting better not worse; I think we should be seeing tactical appreciation getting better; I think we are entitled to see players gelling together and playing more cohesively because they and the coaching staff and manager have had some time together now. None of these things are too high a price to expect the manager and staff to pay for this club.

So we'll see whether they happen :)
 
Start looking for a new manager now as we will need one soon.

Bruce wants to buy experienced older players as they don't need coaching. The kids don't stand a chance and won't improve with him in charge.

He and his coaches are incapable of turning our players into a team.
 
Fulford - 16/7/2017 11:56

"Start looking for a new manager now as we will need one soon."

One defeat in pre-season and the merchants of doom are back on Bruce's case straight away I see. Shall we get pre season, the transfer window and perhaps a few meaningful Championship games under our belt before the inevitable 'Bruce hasn't a clue and should have been sacked last season' brigade pipes up again?

 
Fulford - 16/7/2017 11:56

Start looking for a new manager now as we will need one soon.

Bruce wants to buy experienced older players as they don't need coaching. The kids don't stand a chance and won't improve with him in charge.

He and his coaches are incapable of turning our players into a team.

Totally and utterly disagree with this.